H.R. 2745, the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 has been passed by the US House. This bill cuts the United Nations funding by 50% unless the UN agrees to impliment certain listed reforms.

If you’re like me, and believe that the US should withdraw from the UN, then on the surface this sounds like a great deal. Drastically reducing the dues that we pay to the UN is certainly a step in the right direction. This bill was passed mostly along party lines, so maybe the congressional Republicans are finally thinking straight!

Wrong. As Ron Paul and Henry Lamb point out, the devil is in the details. If implimented, these reforms would grant the UN unprecedented new powers, and streamline existing processes.

One new reform would broadly redefine terrorism, and charge the UN to take action on behalf of governments and international organizations. This would make any attempt to overthrow a government a reason for UN military action. A sovereign nation has always retained the right to defend itself against any rebellion within it’s territory. If this reform is adopted, any such activity would justify UN action inside that country.

By being a part of the United Nations, the US is handing over some measure of power and control to an organization that is unelected and not accountable to the citizens. This fact alone undermines the representive republic that the Constitution establishes as our form of government.

If this legislation succeeds, the result will be more power being taken away from US citizens and handed to unelected representatives from foreign countries. We should be, at the very least, loosening our ties to the UN. This legislation is moving us in the wrong direction.